DOUBLE SUCCESS FOR ANNEMIEK VAN VLEUTEN
Annemiek Van Vleuten wins Open du Suède. It was the third consecutive Dutch victory in Vårgårda. Annemiek Van Vleuten is now also the new leader of the World Cup.
Before the race Annemiek Van Vleuten was second in the World Cup, only her team-mate Marianne Vos had more WC-points. On the roads in Vårgårda Annemiek Van Vleuten was the strongest rider in the peloton. After a fairly dull start, the race exploded with five laps to go. When the star riders increased the speed, the peloton became one long string of riders. With three laps to go a group of seven riders broke away and quickly they had lead of almost a minute, but on the toughest part of the lap, the climb in Hägrunga, the lead was down to just 20 seconds.
The last lap was nervthrilling – the chasing peloton came closer to the breakaway group and Annemiek Van Vleuten repeatedly attacked. Passing the red flag the pelton almost caught up the the breakaway riders, but instead of surrender Annemiek Van Vleuten decided to fight to the end. With a super sprint and a do or dare last corner, she had the meters she needed to keep everone behind on the home straight. Elleonora Van Dijk finished second and Nicole Cooke third. The rest of the breakaway riders were passed by the peloton in the sprint.
- I felt really strong and the race was very exciting, Annemiek Van Vleuten says. With five kilometers to go, my coach told me to make a last attempt.
With the victory in Vårgårda Annemiek Van Vleuten passed team mate Marianne Vos in the overall standings in the World Cup by seven points. As Swedish rider Emma Johansson finished tenth, only two riders now have enough points to win the 2011 World Cup; they are both Dutch and they are team-mates. 
